step 2, read each text here BEFORE watching the video. read it, watch the video, read it again, watch the video, do it. watch the video as needed.

step 3, if you have a question, make sure you did what step 2 entailed. i won't answer any questions about it if i feel like you skipped this part.

*IMPORTANT NOTE* For drills involving the "fake grip" I highly suggest taping up the first segment of your index finger with duct tape or athletic tape or wearing a batting glove or something similar. Unless you are a mechanic or carpenter or something of that nature, this may rip up your finger if you don't have a sufficient callous.

*IMPORTANT NOTE #2* Do not try to STRONG ARM these drills. They are meant to be performed in a fairly relaxed fashion with an emphasis on fluidity and timing more than brute force. When done properly your body should be fine as long as you don't over-do it (e.g. it would be unwise to do 200 hammer pounds in a row). If you try to over-muscle any of these you are risking the chance of injury.

*IMPORTANT NOTE #3* It's wise to stay away from glass when you are performing these drills.

*IMPORTANT NOTE #4* These all assume you are right handed. If you're a lefty, shift the references to fit you.

Part 1: The Fake Grip and Pounding the Hammer

The fake grip is shown above. It's basically the opposite of a thumber grip. No fingers should be on the rim.

Drill 1: Start with the disc on a vertical plane in front of your right shoulder while using the fake grip. Your wrist should begin in the open position (bent backwards). In a relaxed manner, drop your arm and snap your wrist at the end like you are trying to pound in a nail at your waist. The key here is to GLIDE in and feel the natural weight shift of the disc. Once your forearm stops falling the disc will continue due to gravity and inertia. When you feel the disc trying to "fall" under its own power, grip down and snap your wrist to the closed position (bent forwards).

If you time this incorrectly, the disc will pretty much slip out of your hand. That is a sign you are muscling it and/or fighting against the natural weight shift of the disc.

Pay specific attention and notice how fast the disc whips around when you time the pounding of the hammer correctly. Focus on the feeling of pounding the hammer. If you feel some recoil at the bottom sort of like when you hit a nail and have the hammer head bounce back up, that is a good thing.

WATCH VIDEO: fakegrip1.divx

Drill 2: Still using the fake grip, shift the disc to a (somewhat) flat horizontal plane. Start with the disc just beyond the right side of your body. The wrist should be open (bent backwards). Repeat drill 1 but like you are pounding a nail just beyond the left side of your body. Glide in, feel the weight shift of the disc and snap your wrist at the end. Focus on the feeling of pounding the hammer.

If you time this incorrectly, the disc will pretty much slip out of your hand. That is a sign you are muscling it and/or fighting against the natural weight shift of the disc.

If you feel some recoil at the bottom sort of like when you hit a nail and have the hammer head bounce back up, that is a good thing.

WATCH VIDEO: fakegrip2.divx

Part 2: Converting the Hammer Pound for Sidearm and Overhand Throws

Drill 3: Adjust your grip to a 1 or 2 finger sidearm grip (I recommend 2). Feel this one out, don't just fall back on a grip that someone taught you or you read about at some point in time. Repeat Drill 1 with the new grip. The grip should seem SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than the fake grip. If it's awkward, keep adjusting your grip until you have one that really "hooks" the rim well and strengthens the hammer pound.

This second time through the drill you should be fully adept at feeling the weight shift of the disc. Start relaxed with an open wrist. Glide down and pound. By now the disc should be whipping around at the end nearly twice as fast as with the fake grip. The recoil bounce back should be noticeable and you should be able to build a rhythm, doing 3+ consecutive hammer pounds with only a minor pause in between.

At this point it's easy to cheat and use your fingers to pull the disc rather than having it drop naturally through inertia and gravity. If you aren't getting a quick "whoosh" sound as the disc whips around, I'd recommend switching back to the fake grip and building a feel for the timing.

The quick snap around of the disc at the bottom should feel VERY strong even though your arm is basically relaxed.

WATCH VIDEO: hammer1.divx

For overhand throwing the same concepts apply and you can find some variation on drills 1 and 3 to accommodate different throwing trajectories. e.g. pounding a nail that is above your head and pointing 45 degrees upwards and towards you, pounding a nail in front of your face, etc.

Drill 4: Using the same grip you found in Drill 3, repeat drill 2 by shifting the new grip to the horizontal plane. Pound the hammer sidearm from the right edge of your body to the left edge. Focus on the same points of Drill 3.

At this point you have a usable sidearm technique that should yield controlled 250'+ shots with little, if any OAT. Basically, you probably won't need super overstable discs for sidearm unless you are going for a strong right fade and your understable drivers will likely s-curve.

Additional tips:-Reach back on the same plane you plan to throw on. Many people have the impulse to reach back behind their right ear. This will breed OAT and mistiming. You may work towards it in the future but for the time being, focus on reaching on the same plane that you intend to throw on. Usually, this is just like the starting point of the sidearm hammer pound but reaching slightly farther.

-If you are trying to throw flat or hyzer, keep your right shoulder noticeably lower than your left shoulder. This does not apply for anhyzers.

-Getting the nose down is a factor of letting your wrist close all the way through the snap, getting your weight over your left foot, and letting your right shoulder continue its forward follow-through.

-FOCUS ON THE POUND AT THE END MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

WATCH VIDEO: hammer2.divx

Part 3: The Backhand In-Motion, Pound the Backhand Hammer

Drill 5: Repeat the sidearm hammer 2-3 times until you really feel it. Upon completing it change to a backhand grip. Starting with the disc in front of your stomach and your wrist slightly curled around the disc. Your elbow should be out from your body and not tight to your body. Pound the hammer backhand like you are smashing a nail that is out beyond the right side of your body. Relax, glide in, feel the weight shift of the disc and pound it at the end. Focus on snapping your forearm out there and letting the wrist go through its full motion.

Your wrist should be opening all the way and there should be a noticeable recoil bounce back.

Repeat this several times until you have a feel.

WATCH VIDEO: hammer3.divx

This form is self-correcting. If you swing wide, you can't pound the hammer. If you swing with rushed shoulders, you can't pound the hammer. If you are tense and rigid, you can't pound the hammer.

You'll probably find that you don't need to use any torso, shoulders, or legs to get a strong hammer pound. When you hit the field try throwing while focusing on the hammer pound and no extra body motion. You should find you are getting fast, straight throws (hardly any turn/fade) and all of this without a run up, huge reach back, etc.

To build power you can slowly integrate in longer motions. Work from the hit back and only add things if the feel and timing makes the hammer pound STRONGER. If it doesn't contribute to the hammer pound, get rid of it or change it until it does make things stronger.

Drill 6: Shift things to a vertical plane if you are having trouble feeling it. Basically, curl your right arm up like you are flexing your bicep. Your hand should be slightly over the disc. Drop the hammer backhand but similar in feel to Drills #1 and #3. This is an excellent "pre-throw" feel builder. It puts gravity on your side and assists in feeling the natural weight shift of the disc.

This is also why it will be easier to pound the hammer on anhyzer throws than on flat or hyzer throws.

WATCH VIDEO: hammer4.divx

Part 4: Incomplete... this is where I'm stuck.

Part 3 taught you how to half hit it. Players who hit it half-way will usually plateau in the 425-440' range (although many will find themselves closer to 380-400'). Hitting it fully is the big jump that leads to 475'+ throws. I'm still working on the drill that teaches this feel. Basically, the drill that teaches how to pivot and sling the disc as easy as the other drills.

Part 5: Learning to Aim

To learn to aim, repeat drill 5 and focus on the "end point" of the motion (pre-recoil). When you have an idea of where that is, return your arm, wrist, and disc into that position after a good pound. The elbow will NOT be fully straightened. It will be straighter but there will still be some bend. If your elbow is fully straightening your timing is off and you are likely to hyper extend your elbow. Your wrist will be bent back quite far and your thumb will likely be pointing in the same direction that your right shoulder is. This is where the disc will go. To hit that line, focus on pounding the hammer and reaching that position. The disc should launch from that point.

You will also have to have weight forward or you will be prone to grip-locking.

Part 6: The Hammer Head

You don't really need to know this to perform the drills but this might help the visualization process.

The Sidearm and Overhand hammer head position is pretty easy. It's on the opposite edge of the disc from your grip.

The hammer head is the red.

The Backhand hammer head is a bit more conceptual. It's in front of the opposite edge of the disc. It's easy to feel where the weight is but if you are trying to visualize it, it's actually out in free space.

It might help with the feel to initiate the hammer pounds by pulling the bottom of the "handle" towards the "nail" at the very beginning of the swing.

Part 4 Faliure #1: The Yo-yo

The first failed attempt at Part 4 is called the yo-yo. This involves a drill similar to Drill #6 but with a modified grip. To find a grip for this drill, hook your index finger onto the rim of the disc and pinch on top with your thumb. If you hold the disc vertically it should resemble the "holding a stinky diaper as far away as possible" stereotype. You should be able to swing the disc like a pendulum side to side on a vertical plane with your finger hooked at the top.

The next step is a repeat of Drill #6 but instead of pounding the hammer, feel it similarly to slinging a yo-yo. Grip loosely with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers but keep a good hook with your index and pinch with your thumb. Pay special attention to the disc rolling forward slightly in your palm (it's ~1") and then "jumping" off your palm as the wrist bends way backwards. The disc should pivot out of your hand and swing around at the bottom, hitting the flesh web between your index finger and thumb.

WATCH VIDEO: yoyo.divx

Why this is useful in the slightest even though it's a failure

This is basically the feeling of throwing a backhand roller and it also teaches the feeling of palm ejection, which is a large part of both throwing with snap and putting.

Part 4 Faliure #2: The Flip-Back

The second failed attempt at Part 4 I termed the flip-back. Do a sidearm hammer pound (drill #4) but pay attention to the finishing point like in Part 5. If your grip is well-suited to the hammer pound you should notice that your wrist is closed almost all the way and that your finger-tips are naturally pulling into your palm. At this end point something should be interesting: it basically looks like the backhand hammer pound starting grip position.

Shift now to a 2-finger backhand grip. Pound the hammer and focus on snapping it at the end. With only a 2-finger grip the disc should pivot through the hand and stop at the sidearm hammer pound starting grip position.

Basically, you should be able to flip back and forth between a 2-finger backhand grip and a 2-finger sidearm grip.

WATCH VIDEO: flipback.divx

Why this is useful in the slightest even though it's a failure

The backhand to sidearm grip flip teaches the feel for the disc pivot in the hand that initiates the sling. Why this drill fails is that it doesn't teach the timing of the motions. You can have poor timing and still get a pivot. A firm, quick, explosive pivot happens when there's only a slight "nudge" initiating it. That nudge is the pre-cursor to the final sling in a full hit backhand throw (although their motions are nearly simultaneous, it's really a very fast sequence).

Both myself and Dan have had a few students who had success in this way, mostly with players who were throwing 360-380' and pushing them to 430-450' when they had this feel down.

Part 4 Faliure #3: The Lever

Grip the disc like you are holding a steering wheel with 1 hand, leaned back, and trying to look cool while cruising. Your hand should be at 12 o'clock with the majority of your palm on top of the disc. Your fingers will be curled under and onto the rim wall, intersecting the rim at ~90 degrees. The disc should be pretty much perpendicular to the forearm and seam of the hand. This isn't a drill meant for throwing, just for establishing a feel.

Lean forward slightly and dangle your arm in front of you with your arm straight until you are holding the disc at about mid-thigh height (it will vary based upon your arm length). The disc should be between your hand and your body. Slowly rock your right shoulder back and forth letting your arm and the disc pendulum back and forth in a completely relaxed manner. Gradually increase the distance the pendulum travels to the right side. As you pass beyond the right side of your body and get a ways away, you should notice that your hand naturally rotates from being on the far edge of the disc (opposite from your body) to the right edge of the disc. As you build this feel start to use a quicker shoulder motion to the right and pull around the disc so that your hand turns around the disc to the near edge of the disc. Push with your thumb as you pull through the turn.

You should feel the edge of the disc opposite your grip being "levered" out and around. Do this a few times to build the feel.

WATCH VIDEO: lever.divx

This drill just didn't integrate well with the hammer pound.

Why this is useful in the slightest even though it's a failure

This teaches the feel of leverage that is the focus of Swedish technique. You would never throw with this grip but it really gives a feel for how they can crank the disc around so hard even though many of them throw with very little elbow bend.

If you can find a way to combine the lever with the hammer pound you are on the right track.

In Closing

This is a work in progress but I wanted to get it out there before the warm weather and daylight goes away. I know there was a lot of build-up behind this as I was trying to get some testers for it. I hope what it is so far isn't as big of a letdown as the Segway

Basically, this is an easy method to a 250'+ OAT-free sidearm and an easy ticket to 350'+ backhand with natural flaw correction. My goal was to get an easy ticket to 480' but that just hasn't happened yet and I'm pretty disappointed in myself for not finding it yet. Hopefully I'll come to something soon or someone else will be able to build upon what I've written so far.

A lot of these ideas are heavily influenced and built off of ideas by talks I've had with Brad Walker and Dan Beto, so I want to give them credit for this as well.

After working through the drills, I took a couple of glow stalkers out to a football field and got some throws in.

My best stand-still pound the hammer forehands were about 225'. I'm having a lot of trouble with two things here. Having my wrist go past neutral to closed and gripping hard at the end. I tried really hard to close my wrist a couple of times and shanked it right (LHFH). I can very proudly say that I had no turn and burns even on the shots that ended up being anhyzer for various reasons. From past experience with them, I would say that my stalkers were pretty easy to turn and burn forehand if I was at all sloppy with my regular technique. My regular forehand is a short hop step with very little reach back, but more arm than snap. I would say that with my regular forehand form I can get the Stalkers out to 265' so after one session I am losing some distance, but gained some reliability.

Similar story for backhand. With my full x-step and regular no wrist action throw I was getting the Stalkers to 300' feet today. From a stand still and with only a medium-length reach back, pounding the hammer was getting them to 275'. The few times that I managed to avoid turning to face the target for as long as possible, the aim was pretty good, but otherwise I was pulling my shots left (LHBH) because of shoulder turn. I do have to say that it is quite challenging to not throw anhyzer when pounding the hammer. It seems to be a combination of me wanting to end with my palm pointing slightly upward and the shoulder turn that was causing the anhyzer. If I did a good job of avoiding those problems, the shots were pretty nice. But I certainly had way more poor throws than good ones overall trying to backhand pound the hammer.

All of this was done after going through the drills in the secret techniques thread, then reading through Blake's stuff here (but not actually working through these drills) and watching the videos and then going to the field to throw.

Im going to work with some people today on this, so maybe, just maybe, i might stumble upon this "missing" link.

Incomplete Secret Technique > Segway

Accuracy is Slow. Slow is Smooth. Smooth is Fast. Fast is Far.The Less Effort, The Faster and More Powerful You Will Be - Bruce LeeKnow What You Throw. Throw What You Know.It's Not A Routine If You Have To Think About It.-=| Click Here To See What's Currently In My Bag |=-

if your wrist doesn't close on the sidearm hammer, you weren't really hammering it. the only foreseeable way i could picture not having the wrist close is either if you aren't getting the hammer "head" out beyond the front edge of your body and/or you are coming through too hard and bringing your throwing shoulder around too fast. the key is, if you focus on pounding the hammer, you will throw well.

don't try to "throw" and pound the hammer. the hammer pound is the throw.

the same goes for the backhand throw. if your shoulder is coming through too fast and too early, you aren't really pounding the hammer.

the "disgusting" part of the backhand version of this throw is that almost everyone is experiencing throws that are within 90% of their "full" throw by using a 6-12" chop and pounding the hammer. no shoulders, no hips, no torso... just a firm hammer pound.

basically, you haven't let go of your previous notion of the throw yet. this is why i have called this a "rethinking" of the throw.

Just read and did all the exercises and you're right on as usual. When I'm "hitting it" on my bombs (well into the 500' range), I get that heavy feeling of the discs. FWIW, what led me to break through half hitting it to fully getting it is the reachback. I was throwing 400-425' consistently until a local guy who throws 550'+ held the disc as I reached back. He pulled my arm much further back than I had previously reached. Once I did this (along with the correct form of hips/shoulder/arm accel at the RP), I INSTANTLY hit 500'. Took one throw.

So, for me it was the reach back. What got me to my present level of 550' (480' with TBs) is to really focus on the hand accel at the last minute and keeping REALLY loose. If you don't, your timing is screwed (as you've said before).

Just wanted to try and help.

My putter doinks harder than yours!

Z Pred~E*Boss~E*TB~Roadrunner~Fuse~Buzzz~Comet~Aviar

Frank Delicious wrote:I try to psyche people out on my card. I usually do this by getting nude around the 4th hole.

one natural cap people put themselves into is not getting weight back before they shift to weight forward. i've helped boost a few of players from 430' to 480' in this way. a lot of guys go from centered weight to forward weight (without going from back weight to forward weight) and it doesn't give as much power. i think that's what actually happened with your throw. he was able to delay your weight shift to a defined back to front rather than from back to centered and centered to front.

for these drills, i only suggest integrating larger motions very slowly, ALWAYS preserving the late pound weight shift feeling.

I'm fairly slow to learn athletic things and hang on tightly to bad habits so I thought I would give these drills a good run through and provide some feedback for the tough to teach folks such as myself.

Blake_T wrote:if your wrist doesn't close on the sidearm hammer, you weren't really hammering it. the only foreseeable way i could picture not having the wrist close is either if you aren't getting the hammer "head" out beyond the front edge of your body and/or you are coming through too hard and bringing your throwing shoulder around too fast. the key is, if you focus on pounding the hammer, you will throw well.

One thing I was doing to try to really emphasize the hammering idea was to have my non throwing hand as a target for the point of contact for the hammer head. I would put my elbow at my side and bend at the elbow so that my forearm came straight out of my body in line with the right-hand side (LHFH) side of my body. My hand would then be my target that gave me a focal point for the hammering to really visualize. Even when I would throw (well hammer) I could leave it there there and the throw would pass just under my hand. Should I be moving this focal point further toward the target (past the right side of my body) instead of being inline with the right side of my body?

Blake, since your videos were full speed and low frame rate it was very hard to tell what was happening at the end of any of your pounds since you would whip it back to starting position. What I was doing and what I was picturing was happening for you was basically the same as Dave D's discussion of "steely stop" where you go from open to neutral in the hammer pound but the weight of the disc pulls your wrist closed. Then it bounces quickly back to neutral since you/me/Dave D tried to do the "steely stop". Should I be trying to actively go past neutral to closed?

Blake_T wrote:don't try to "throw" and pound the hammer. the hammer pound is the throw.

"The hammer pound is the throw" is working for forehand, but the problem is that my hammer pound is not yet working well.

"The hammer pound is the throw" is barely working for backhand. For backhand I think it is so similar to the pen toss that I am having trouble letting go of that.

Blake_T wrote:the "disgusting" part of the backhand version of this throw is that almost everyone is experiencing throws that are within 90% of their "full" throw by using a 6-12" chop and pounding the hammer. no shoulders, no hips, no torso... just a firm hammer pound.

There's something delightful about the thought of stepping up to the tee and throwing 90% as far as usual with what looks like no effort when everybody else is giving it there all to get roughly the same distance.

I am primarily a sidearm player, and when I did the drill for that part it felt like what I've already been doing.

As far as the drill goes, I got sore very quickly in my wrist for the muscle that you'd use to pinch your thumb and fingers together. Does that mean that it's a muscle I've been ignoring on my throws that should be in play?

Backhand:All my overstable stuff just shot out low and forward for low D. Most of my bag is stuff like starfire/flick/orc for sidearm stuff, and I just don't think I have the power to backhand them properly yet.

However, I did have one magical throw with a leopard that went about 50 feet further than anything else. The flight was almost completely straight, and might have been my longest throw yet.

It seems like the main thing that needs fixed for me is timing.

Oh, and I don't do runups on my backhand. So I guess 50 feet more than the sidearm in spite of no runup is a good start! Now to just learn to do it every time and control it.

My sidearms tend to go about 300 feet, so I'm guessing that one bomb with the leopard was about 350 or something.

I'll try this a few more times and see if I can get those powerful throws to be more common.

One thing I was doing to try to really emphasize the hammering idea was to have my non throwing hand as a target for the point of contact for the hammer head. I would put my elbow at my side and bend at the elbow so that my forearm came straight out of my body in line with the right-hand side (LHFH) side of my body. My hand would then be my target that gave me a focal point for the hammering to really visualize. Even when I would throw (well hammer) I could leave it there there and the throw would pass just under my hand. Should I be moving this focal point further toward the target (past the right side of my body) instead of being inline with the right side of my body?

stop doing this. if your opposite hand is out it will force unnatural shoulder behavior. this is the same reason backhand throwers who hold onto the disc with their offhand tend to have lots of OAT.

Blake, since your videos were full speed and low frame rate it was very hard to tell what was happening at the end of any of your pounds since you would whip it back to starting position. What I was doing and what I was picturing was happening for you was basically the same as Dave D's discussion of "steely stop" where you go from open to neutral in the hammer pound but the weight of the disc pulls your wrist closed. Then it bounces quickly back to neutral since you/me/Dave D tried to do the "steely stop". Should I be trying to actively go past neutral to closed?

by focusing on specifics of the video you are doing exactly the opposite of what the drills are supposed to do. it's all about feel and not about trying to mimic specifics. the pacing of my videos is more important than the specifics.

i don't see how you could do drills #1 and #3 with only letting the wrist get back to neutral. the entire natural tendency is to end with the disc below your hand... that is the miracle of gravity.

when you get to the flipback and i talk about the feel of pulling the finger tips pulling into the palm...

"The hammer pound is the throw" is working for forehand, but the problem is that my hammer pound is not yet working well.

"The hammer pound is the throw" is barely working for backhand. For backhand I think it is so similar to the pen toss that I am having trouble letting go of that.

i think your notion of when/where the disc releases must be off by like a foot in either direction. e.g. you don't have a nail you are pounding with the hammer.

for sidearm it should be slightly beyond the left side of your body (or right side if yer lefty). for backhand it's like 1-2' beyond the right side of your body. if your shoulders are rotating more than a tiny bit you are doing it wrong.

As far as the drill goes, I got sore very quickly in my wrist for the muscle that you'd use to pinch your thumb and fingers together. Does that mean that it's a muscle I've been ignoring on my throws that should be in play?

most likely, yes, you aren't using that muscle.

All my overstable stuff just shot out low and forward for low D. Most of my bag is stuff like starfire/flick/orc for sidearm stuff, and I just don't think I have the power to backhand them properly yet.

However, I did have one magical throw with a leopard that went about 50 feet further than anything else. The flight was almost completely straight, and might have been my longest throw yet.

It seems like the main thing that needs fixed for me is timing.

it's also a leverage thing. wide rims = poor grip leverage. the backhand hammer pound, yoyo, and flip back should show you just how much weaker your grip is on a wide rim. the leopard is like half a cm narrower on the rim than the others and it's much easier to lever.

the low throws were likely a bit underpowered but it was also a very late slip. basically, you didn't quite pound the hammer. the hammer came out of your hand immediately before contact.

Thanks for videos Blake! First thing I did this morning was download them and my forehand today was more accurate then ever. I actually preferred full speed b/c I was doing the drills too slow. Havent crushed for max D yet though. The thumb pointing works really well. Thanks again for the videos. Thanks!

Thank you a TON for the writeup and videos! Between these, the previous thread, and comments sprinkled through both, I think I might be able to get this at least for OH and FH when I get the chance to practice in a field. I tried a little at home and thwacked a champ plastic disc into a wall that didn't need a new dent.... *sigh*/*chuckle*

Cinderella story. Outta nowhere.... It looks like a mirac... It's in the chains!